# Historical question: Did sport divisions start segregating by sex because women were beating men in competitions? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 23, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876 "2026-07-23T16:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/61 "2026-07-24T14:16:21Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > But as noted [here](https://www.nhra.com/news/2023/girl-power-big-list-female-firsts-nhra-drag-racing-history), the motorsport in which women have been the most successful is drag racing. > [@commasense](#): > > I suspect (and I think it’s a fairly widely held view) that a large part of what has kept women from being given more opportunities in motorsports is plain old sexism on the part of team bosses and sponsors. > [@Dorjan](#): > > You left out WRC (World Rally Championship). Michèle Mouton was one of the best rally drivers in the world. > [@Dorjan](#): > > Since we are including motorsports, another sport where women have excelled on the same playing field as men is Aerobatic competitions. Patty Wagstaff is well-known but one of the winningest aerobatic champions is Russia’s Svetlana Kapanina, who holds 39 World Titles (competing in both women’s and overall categories) and is arguably the best aerobatic pilot in the world. I don’t think we can ignore sexism from male competitors. Three areas of motorsports where women excel competing against men include drag racing, rally, and aerobatics. And all three of these share one characteristic: competitors can’t interfere with one another’s performance. In most racing, all the cars are on the same track at the same time and cooperative drafting or competitive blocking can be part of the strategy but they are irrelevant in aerobatics, drag racing, and rally. Rally racers are spaced apart on stages and one car rarely catches the one that started before it. Drag racers are side by side. Aerobatics compete one at a time. If my theory is right, we would also expect that women might have outsized success in autocross and rallycross. And sure enough, women have won several championships in these mixed gender competitions too. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/62 "2026-07-24T15:00:20Z")
That’s a very good point! ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/63 "2026-07-24T16:05:28Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > In rock climbing also, women often match men but not through power, but by better technical placement, hip flexibility, and body positioning. Makes perfect sense. Possibly a better strength/weight ratio, too. > [@Horatius](#): > > Also, historically, a lot of “sports” were originally just more polite ways of practicing the things men were expect to do in wars and such. Even more than the decathlon, the modern pentathlon is comprised of five combat (or combat adjacent) skills in which a gentleman warrior is expected to excel. > [@SanVito](#): > > They used bogus medical reasons, citing that football was detrimental to female physiology. Because all that running could make their uteruses (uteri?) fall out, doncha know. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/64 "2026-07-24T16:09:34Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > uteruses (uteri?) Either one is correct. The Latin rule is to turn -us into -i, and the English rule is to add -es at the end, and loanwords in English can follow the rules of either language. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/65 "2026-07-24T16:11:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Either one is correct. In either case, we simply can’t have all those baby bags all over the pitch! ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/66 "2026-07-24T16:36:37Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > is basketball today played the same way it was in the 1890s, 1920s, or even the 1950s? It isn’t. My grandmother used to complain that the way basketball is being played “today” (this was back in the early 2000s) isn’t anything like what she played in high school in the 1930s. Mostly that they weren’t allowed to move when they had the ball but could only pass it. And, at least in rural Utah, back then the teams were already segregated by gender. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/67 "2026-07-24T16:43:21Z")
That’s how my ex mother in law played in the 1950s. It really was a completely different game. The men’s game by then was probably closer to today. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/68 "2026-07-24T16:48:07Z")
ISTR my mom said when she was in high school (ca. early 1950s), some players were not allowed to cross half court in girls’ basketball. Forwards had to stay in the forecourt, guards had to stay in the backcourt, and only the center could move the length of the court. I don’t remember if they played 5-on-5 or not. Of course, back then, there were hitching posts nearby to tie up the dinosaurs they rode to school. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/69 "2026-07-24T16:54:35Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Golf courses have been designed for the distances that men can reach (thus the “women’s tees” to make things fair.) I was thinking about golf in the context of this thread. Yeah, golf courses may be designed with men in mind to make it challenging for them (distances), but are there any competitions that are gender-neutral in golf where the distances are less? I see no reason why women need a handicap tee for a par 3 hole, for example - both genders can reach the green easily with one swing, and then it comes down to putting, which requires more finesse than strength or stamina. A competition with only par 3s could be competitive as co-ed, yes? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/70 "2026-07-24T17:34:37Z")
It will generally be easier for men to make it to the green than women due to their strength advantage. Even if everyone can make it to the green in one, the men will have more control over their shot. They will be able to tee off to a better spot on the green to have an easier putt. Perhaps putt-putt could be something where they would be on equal footing. But even if there is no physical advantage in putt-putt, men will still likely have the advantage since they tend to play golf more frequently. The field of men entering a putt-putt tournament will likely have had many more hours putting than the women’s field due to men generally playing more golf than women. It’s like that in many activities. Even when there’s not a physical advantage for men, men tend to do better because, as a group, they tend to spend more hours on the activity than women. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/71 "2026-07-24T17:46:41Z")
I’m not sure how useful experience in real golf would be in putt-putt. The surfaces are different, and real golf has no bank shots nor timed obstacles. If there were a competitive putt-putt tournament, I’d expect the entrants would be people who play a lot of putt-putt specifically, which in my experience is pretty evenly mixed between sexes (it’s often either a whole-family activity or a date activity). ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/72 "2026-07-24T18:05:31Z")
It seems like putt-putt should have a 50/50 gender split, as well as other activities like pool, poker, and darts, but that’s not the case. Open tournaments almost always have many more men than women. For instance, this [4th Annual Mini Links Masters](https://www.amaminigolf.com/2026events/minilinks-2026) had 24 entrants, but only 4 were women. And these events are typically open to everyone without any sort of qualification requirements. You don’t need to have a specific ranking or have won lower-level tournaments. In many cases, someone could show up on the day of the tournament and play. So even without any kind of barrier to entry or physical mismatch between genders, there is often a large gap between the number of men and women competing. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/73 "2026-07-24T18:31:55Z")
Sexism can have that effect. ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/74 "2026-07-24T18:35:55Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > That’s how my ex mother in law played in the 1950s. It really was a completely different game. The men’s game by then was probably closer to today. The six-on-six, no-dribbling, no-crossing-halfcourt variant of basketball was the standard version for high school girls at one time, and lasted until [as late as the 1990s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-on-six_basketball) in Iowa and Oklahoma. Remember also that the NCAA did not sponsor women’s basketball until 1981, and other seemingly permanent features of the game are surprisingly recent - the three-point line did not come to high school boys’ basketball until 1987, and most states still do not use a shot clock. The NBA Finals had no live TV coverage as late as 1981. Essentially everything about “modern basketball” dates to the popularity of Johnson and Bird in the 80s and would be unrecognizable to, say, a teenager in 1971 who is young enough to be around retirement age today. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/75 "2026-07-24T18:55:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Data shows that women are faster than men on ultramarathons over 195 miles. But that sport isnt a completive one, played in divisions. The fact that women had a slight advantage over males in that sport didnt cause the organizers to come up with a male race and a female race. And from your cite, the advantage of women over men is a mere > "and above 195 miles, women are actually 0.6% faster than men. In any case, I checked on a famous kinda local one- Badwater Ultramarathon- and males have won many more tines than women. > [@keeganst94](#): > > In a naive reading, at least. I would be interested in whether the difference between the 100km, 100 mile and 195+ mile differences, which are all within 1.1% of each other and 1% of no difference between the genders, is actually statistically significant. At the very least, male and female performance seems to equalize or nearly equalize at 100 km or more. Yeah, .06 does not seem to be statistically significant. > [@SanVito](#): > > Famously in England in the early 1920s, the Football Association (soccer governing body) banned women from playing. That is a little different. The teams were not co-ed- there were Women’s teams and Men’s teams. And the ban was limited- > So, one year after more than 53,000 spectators turned out to watch at Goodison Park, the FA voted to ban women’s football. The sport’s governing body did not have the power to ban women from playing outright – that was impossible, so instead they ruled that women’s games were barred from FA-affiliated football grounds. The ban was to last for 51 years. But what the OP -I think- is asking about is co-ed teams where the women were beating the men- so the divisions went to Male teams and Women’s teams that did not compete > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And i think _that_ was the problem that led to uniformly segregating girls, not that girls weren’t winning often enough. That makes sense. > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > If my theory is right, we would also expect that women might have outsized success in autocross and rallycross. And sure enough, women have won several championships in these mixed gender competitions too. But- afaik- NOT _outsized_ success? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/76 "2026-07-24T19:39:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But that sport isnt a completive one, played in divisions. Most races have mens and womens leaderboards and records. But it doesn’t really matter because I wasn’t directly responding to the OP, but to a question raised during the discussion. A common t-shirt at ultramarathons says [Here for the Women’s Race](https://www.hereforthewomensrace.com/). > [@DrDeth](#): > > In any case, I checked on a famous kinda local one- Badwater Ultramarathon Which is 135 miles, so it’s not directly relevant to the claim. Rachel Entrekin won the Cocodona 250 this year setting a new course record. It’s tough comparing different years since weather plays a huge factor, but overall win _and_ new course record are pretty significant. Courtney Dauwalter was the overall winner of the Moab 240 in 2017 and the Big’s Backyard Ultra in 2020 by completing 68 laps (283 miles). The differences are slight and there is limited competition at that elite level, but these are data points. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/77 "2026-07-24T19:45:47Z")
> [@ZosterSandstorm](#): > > The six-on-six, no-dribbling, no-crossing-halfcourt variant of basketball was the standard version for high school girls at one time, That could be what my mom described, not five-a-side. I don’t remember if she said they could dribble or not. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/78 "2026-07-24T19:51:41Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > In rock climbing also, women often match men but not through power, but by better technical placement, hip flexibility, and body positioning. Women have more flexible tendons, ligaments, and muscles than men in general. It’s an “engineering” tradeoff; greater flexibility in return for lesser strength, while men are stronger but stiffer. I do recall reading that it’s possible to design/find a rock climb that’s only moderately hard for a woman rock climber, but physically impossible for most men to do because they just don’t bend that way. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/79 "2026-07-24T19:52:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Women have more flexible tendons, ligaments, and muscles than men in general. It’s an “engineering” tradeoff; greater flexibility in return for lesser strength, while men are stronger but stiffer. In all my years of attending Bar and Bar Mitzvah parties, I never once saw a boy win the limbo contest. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876/80 "2026-07-24T20:30:34Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Women have more flexible tendons, ligaments, and muscles than men in general. It’s an “engineering” tradeoff; greater flexibility in return for lesser strength, while men are stronger but stiffer. > > I do recall reading that it’s possible to design/find a rock climb that’s only moderately hard for a woman rock climber, but physically impossible for most men to do because they just don’t bend that way. One advantage that most people don’t think about can be demonstrated by the following competition: Participants stand with up against against a wall. A piece of paper is placed on the floor about 2-3 feet from the wall (at least, I think it’s just a piece of paper- a bunch of bored grad students, including me, tried this one day). The challenge is to bend from the waist, keeping heels and butt against the wall and…pick up the paper. It was amazing to see the fittest men fail while all the women accomplished it easily. The secret advantage? The average woman has a lower center of gravity than the average man. It’s all about leverage, not strength. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-question-did-sport-divisions-start-segregating-by-sex-because-women-were-beating-men-in-competitions/1031876.md?page=5)